I never kept my ticket stub, but a friend who went with me reminded me that it was the one where the naked woman jumped on stage. Not an especially great show, maybe 3 stars, but it was my first, so 4 stars. We were drinking whiskey while standing in line and drink was not my thing, so when Yogi Phlegm came on, I was not in a good way. I reasoned that the only way to deal with this situation was to smoke as much weed as possible. Which I did, and by the time NRPS did their set, was okay. Even so, the whole night is a blur. I can only tell you that my memory was pleasant. I went on to see the Dead there about a dozen times, including two of the retirement shows and the closing of Winterland.

This was part of a Winterland benefit for AIM, with the Dead being the largest attraction. They overlooked their usual non-direct-political stance for this benefit, which came nearly a year after the Occupy Alcatraz event, when AIM was fundraising for the Trail of Broken Treaties. This was the third Winterland show in a row, though coming two months after the previous show, with Bobby recording Ace in the interim. This show is known for being the final Bay Area/home show for Pigpen, for having the first Black Throated Wind and for the first Mind Left Body jam, though because it was a benefit festival crowd it's not a jammy show. Jer and Phil also jammed with openers Yogi Phlegm/Sons of Champlin and New Riders. The sets are lopsided due to time constraints. They never get wholly on top of the 1st set, but the 2nd set is short & sweet. It was the last show before the Academy shows [3/21 & 3/23 are the first great '72s] and the leap to Europe. SBDs are lesser qual and start at Tennessee Jed. We are lucky to have a passable AUD for completion (patches & the first six songs).
First Set. Ranging from below average to above average, nothing quite reaches X Factor, but there's plenty of GOGD in the Bertha opener. Black Throated Wind is the premiere. It never got much better – Jer already has about all he can add. Mr. Charlie is almost always great, but here it gets sluggish, and Sugaree loses even more tempo. Another first in this show is the new & final arrangement of Greatest Story. Bobby had put it to bed for almost a year and then rewrote it in the course of making Ace. Now it's back with another chord change, an end-of-verse tag, and an Abraham bridge (though on this first outing they lose the thread). Tennessee Jed has caught up a few winks and a good tempo, for what will become a '72 powerhouse. The verse snafus are contrasted by great Billy. It's his show, really, and he's the key for Jack Straw. Somebody (apparently one of the organizers, now having a GD amount of fun) steals the mic to add to the start of China Cat. Disgusting; would you wet your tongue in a beer that had the backwash of dozens of people, because some dude had a hallucination in Texas? The beginning of You Win Again is clipped on the SBD, but present on the AUD, along with the 1st 5secs of El Paso. Casey Jones is not one of the tight '72s, but Pig comes out for organ, so listen for both keys. The tempo windup ending should've been explored more.
Second Set. Kicking off with Good Lovin', sought by the curious for having the first Mind Left Body, a lick Jer had created with Kantner. After a so-so start [the 1st 6secs are AUD only], the first jam takes off like it's already been going. The Pig rap goes nowhere, so MLB is welcome (@~6:25). It lasts about a minute and a half, but Jer weaves it back in, quoting the theme a couple more times. After that jam there's a lot of vamping, waiting for something to develop. The energy that's been swirling around comes to a head for Not Fade Away, dovetailing into a fine sequence, into a sweet sounding Goin' Down the Road. You can hear guest(s) playing on Saturday Night (they probably take the stage @0:12 on GDtRFB). After openers went long, the set is cut short.
1st Set:  C
2nd Set: B
Overall = 3¼ stars
Highlights:
Not Fade Away>Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad – sample the show's sweetest sounds
SOURCES: Most sources run too fast. The better source is the miller_103282 SBD/AUD composite, which has been repitched overall, but still needs -1% pitch correction for the first set, except -2% for the first 46sec of China Cat. The second set needs -1% for Good Lovin', Not Fade Reprise, One More Saturday Night, and @6:38>6:53 in Goin' Down the Road. You'll also need judicious EQ. The jools_12152 runs hyper speedy in places, too slow in other places. The 142354_s2 has a newer 2nd set source, but with lesser image and hall sound (drier).

Was taken aback by the amateurish comments claiming this is not a soundboard! Obviously those folks had never been to good old Winterland, a freak show if there ever was one and one, big party! Believe me: if this was not a soundboard you'd hear a lot more audience. And one more thing: Mr. Charlie Miller does NOT mislable his wonderful downloads. Thanks as always Mr. Charlie!

this is a fine show with classic Wavy Gravy. "miracle", he sez !
as always, we're grateful for all the work that's made this possible.

The Grateful Dead were able to spin straw into gold on the best of nights, but this just just another in a series of the TRULY SPECTACULAR shows during this calendar year. Yes, there are plenty of other performances that make this one pale in comparison. But like every show at Winterland, they always seemed to rise to a level of performance quality that made even "bad" shows there better than great shows at another venue; they seemed to give everything that little something extra that really comes through in the performance.
Other reviews --- distorted recording? Well...... there is a bit of wow & flutter in the playback, but I have tapes that I now consider unlistenable that I practically wore out listening too; remember to try & gain a different perspective in life & you'll come up with a different answer. Soundboard recording? The AUDIENCE portions all seem to be during the tunings, though there are parts of songs that are as well. But for the most part, all of the songs are soundboard, but there has been some degradation/generations that have affected the recording quality.
My only complaint is there's not quite enough jamming, but considering the brevity of the show they rose to the occasion just fine. Peace & Love everyone, Peace & Love.

Distorted recording, sounds very ugly.

This is an audience recording, as evidenced by the SCREAMING members of the, um, AUDIENCE near the mic's. If you don't like people screaming in your ear, you might not like this recording.

indeed!

Skip to Tennessee Jed, You Win Again, Casey Jones
or Not Fade Away to hear Ron's organ.
Hardly seems like a soundboard.
Sounds more like Weir than Wavy Gravy.

just listened to this for the first time tonight and that MLB jam just jumped right out at me, since I recently saw one performed by String Cheese in Oregon with Bill Frisell. That's on Archive inside of 'Country Road Blues.'
Anyway this little jam predates the full appearance six months later, but it didn't catch on until October '73.

i believe the vivid commentary at the beginning of China Cat Sunflower is done by Wavy Gravy....

The band, fresh from recording Weir's solo album "Ace" in the studio, was sloppy at times -- perhaps because there was no pressure on them to perform. Surprisingly, it features much spirited playing. This is an exposition of a band totally within their element and having too much fun -- regardless of their flubs and malaprops.
This recording: it sounds like Bear, Bob and Betty were all sort of absent from attending to the levels of this SBD, probably due to having to spend their time addressing other more needful equipment technicalities. There are a few splices in various places of other soundboard or audience recordings meticulously crafted by someone, maybe CM?
Obviously, the songs off Ace they do are very well rehearsed. The sampling of stage patter indicates they were yelling back and forth at one another, in pure fun.
It took my ears a while to EQ to the sound quality of this presentation but once I adjusted to the suppressed jumbled hissy sound it was adequate merely upon strength of the band's performance, which was mercurially in and out hot.
Really fantastic to hear Blue Ron and Keith mixing it up keyboard-style amongst their contingency with pizzazz.
Was an attendee of this show along with my usual cohorts. Yogi Phlegm (formerly Sons of Champlin) and the New Riders both played lengthy set(s).
At first, we were dismayed at the prospects of TWO opening acts playing so long because we knew that it would cut into the Dead's playing time due to curfew.
However, Yogi Phlegm was proverbially drenched in diamond dust. They were so great that we screamed for them to do 3 encores. They quickly and totally turned our disappointment into glee.
Then, the New Riders got up and did two short sets and were absolutely fantastic. After their performance it no longer mattered how well the Dead played. We were saturated with that good old fashioned medicated glue. And, with this subset, the Dead would do no wrong, so they got up there and smashmouthed their way through one more Sunday night.
Wonderful again to hear Blue Ron lead us thru a spectacular and provocative Good Lovin' -- easily the highlight of the show.
This is not a great show and it is not a great recording and it is very difficult to reward it any more than 3 stars. Nun the less, I had to give it a 5 stars because...because...because...
Yes, because I am an idiot!
Thank you again, Mister Charlie (Miller), for pointing out my foibles.